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The Secret to Making Habits Stick

Starting has always been the biggest obstacle standing between me & my objectives in life – not motivation, not organization, not performance, not a lack of resources, not education.

Starting…

Starting is the biggest hurdle.

It is the steepest step.

Starting is often the hardest part of anything – of cooking a meal, cleaning the house, scheduling a trip, renovating your home, writing a book, producing a song, etc.

It’s one of the most nerve-wracking parts of our daily lives.

It’s the lack of starting that has slayed most of my ambitions in the past.

The primary reason is because I’ve always tried to do too much at once.

The first step requires the most force.

It’s the one with the most resistance.

That’s because an object at rest, stays at rest…unless acted upon by an outside force.

Getting the ball rolling is no easy task… Until you make it so easy you can’t say no…

Let me explain:

If you have a big intimidating task in front of you, start as simple as possible.

Just do two minutes of it.

If that’s too hard, just do 20 seconds of it.

So easy you can’t say no…right?

For instance,

Don’t commit to “starting your coding assignment.” Commit to opening up your text editor and writing two lines of code. Before you know it, you have a nice little program running.

Don’t commit to “reading more.” Commit to cracking open a book and reading just the first page. Before you know it, you’re done with the first chapter.

Don’t commit to “drinking more water.” Commit to leaving a full water bottle out on the counter and taking a sip each time you glance at it. Before you know it, you’ve replaced your habit of drinking coffee with water.

Don’t commit to “writing more.” Commit to opening up a blank word document and writing just one sentence. Before you know it, you’ve written 500 words.

Don’t commit to “doing 75 pushups.” Commit to getting yourself in the pushup position and doing just three pushups. At some point, you’ll think “screw it, since I’m already in push-up position, I’ll do a few more.”

Don’t commit to “learning how to speak French.” Commit to downloading Duolingo and completing just one 5-minute lesson a day. Before you know it, you’re mildly speaking the language.

Don’t commit to “running more.” Commit to putting on your running gear, lacing up your shoes, and getting out the door. Before you know it, you’ve jogged three miles.

Don’t commit to “starting a new business.” Commit to creating an LLC and registering a domain name. Before you know it, you have a minimum viable prototype.

Starting is an art.

It’s easier to resist at the beginning than at the end.

By triggering yourself to create situations where it would be ridiculous for you to walk away from that task, you’re setting yourself up for success.